‘Two Saints of Perseverance and Zeal’ by Bishop DiMarzio

On Aug. 27, the Feast of St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine, will be celebrated. Monica is a great example of a mother who never lost confidence in the possibility of conversion for her son.

Born a Christian, Monica was married to Augustine’s father, a non-Christian who later converted and who died early in life. She was left with the care of Augustine who had not been baptized. In the fourth century, it was the custom that young men became catechumens, and infant baptism was not the rule.

Augustine was a slave to his passions. He fathered a child and flirted with the Manichean heresy. Yet, Monica never lost faith in her son. Her only recourse were tears and prayers, as she never stopped praying for his conversion. Truly, at a time unexpected to her, Augustine was baptized at Easter of 387.